Someone Like You
by TouchMyDrill
Summary: At the very end, Minato won't let Souji just give up. "You can still live." P4/3 spoilers.
1. Chapter 1

He had failed. Everyone had placed their trust in him—enough to die for him for God's sake!—but all he could do was fail.

Yosuke was the first to go. All Souji heard was him screaming "Not a chance!" before the redhead was barreling into him, taking what was meant for _him_.

This time, it wasn't like it was usually. There was no body left behind to recarm. All Souji could do was watch, momentarily stunned by the hit and abjectly _horrified_, as his friend, _his partner_, was engulfed into the ground.

He didn't even have any time to react, because then it came for him again, but this time it was _Chie_ taking the hit, then Yukiko, Kanji, Teddie, even Naoto, and all that was left was Rise's voice ringing distantly in his ears.

They all believed that he could do something they could not, that by sacrificing their lives for his, maybe they could save humanity. But what could he do alone?

He couldn't do _anything_, except stare that abomination down, lips pressed tightly together and sweaty palms gripping his sword, as it turned its sights towards him again; this time no one left to protect him.

All he could do was fail.

* * *

"Wake up."

A voice drifted into his mind, but he couldn't even scrape together the strength to actually _listen_ to it.

"We can't stay long, you know. I mean, I'm not exactly all-powerful…"

"I know. It won't take long. Don't worry."

"If you say so." A pause. "I guess this is probably my cue to leave. I'll come get you when time's up."

There was silence for a short time, when once again that voice broke through the darkness clouding his mind.

"Wake up. This isn't the time to be sleeping."

That all-encompassing blackness seemed to break, and somehow Souji managed to crack his eyes open. The world swam before his eyes, the heavy fog swirling and writhing around him. It took a good few moments for him to realize that someone was actually there, and his head was currently resting on their lap.

Grey-blue eyes, partially obscured by a shield of hair, watched him peacefully.

A question began to form on Souji's face, but the other spoke before he could ask, "I once had someone do this for me. I thought it would help." He explained, voice soft but sure, as he smoothed back some of Souji's hair from his eyes.

Souji, as he remained staring up at him, found that the other's words were true as a sort of… serenity washed over him. But something in the stranger's gaze told him that he couldn't stay like this forever, taking refuge in this person's lap, of all things. He had to swallow away the dryness from his mouth before he could speak, "Who are you?" His voice surprised even himself, all his usual confidence and strength stripped from it.

"Minato." He merely smiled, like he had been expecting that question. "Someone like you."

As he spoke, Souji could practically feel the truth in those words. In this enigmatic boy's presence, it felt like his own identity wasn't quite as concrete as he once thought, seeping and melting and mixing with the other's, but as horrible as that sounded, it wasn't quite an unpleasant experience. Merely dizzying.

The petite hand slowly sorting through his locks of hair paused in their administrations, and the change was enough to bring Souji out of his thoughts and back into reality, if whatever this was could even truly be called that. His eyes locked onto Minato's face, questioning, but he was no longer watching the boy on his lap. His gaze was directed out and towards the nonexistent horizon, miles and years away.

Most of his expression was blocked from Souji's view, but he could have sworn he was crying. He tried to reach up, touch his face, provide some measure of comfort, but his arm remained where it was, immobile and useless.

But then Minato was abruptly looking back down, almost as if he sensed the other's effort, and there were no tears. Only acceptance, though acceptance for whom or what, Souji was unsure. Those fingers were moving again, stroking his hair, and it was so easy to draw comfort from that one small action. His eyelids started to drift closed. He was broken down, beaten, dying… or maybe already dead? He couldn't tell.

"I'm sorry, but you can't sleep now." Minato's fingers drummed on his head, waking Souji from his drowsiness. "Your role hasn't ended yet." His gentle smile looked wistful, almost lonely, "You can still live."

Souji turned away from that smile, feeling unable to face it. "I failed, though. Everyone believed in me, and I failed."

"I would have believed in you, too." Those were the only words that Minato spoke, but nevertheless they struck straight to his core.

It took a few moments for him to speak, but when he did, his words were nearly bitter. "Everyone's dead because of me." Somehow, the moment he said that, tears broke through all his well-placed walls and safeguards, building in his eyes.

He wasn't supposed to cry. He was supposed to be the group's anchor. He protected everyone, listened to them, solved their problems. He had to take all their burdens upon himself and bury his own worries. That's what it meant to be the leader. That's what he had to do.

But now he was crying, rendering all of that effort useless. This must really be the end, since everything he tried to be was now shattering.

"I'm sorry. I know it's hard." Souji could have brushed that off as baseless sympathy, but somehow, he _knew_ the other's words were from experience. "I would do it for you, but this is something only _you_ can do."

Souji stayed silent, as Minato wiped away his tears. "You have to struggle and fight to follow this road to the end. That's your role you have to play." There was a short pause, before Minato spoke again with absolute conviction, "Because that's what you decided of your own free will, right?"

This time, Souji nodded. "I thought so. That will is your own truth, so don't let that God cloud it with despair and falsehoods." Minato's hands glided down, resting on either side of his face as he bent down to touch his forehead to the other's.

Something cracked through his mind like a whip and Souji's world was so jarringly clear and bright it almost hurt. He must have been gaping, because Minato answered his question before he could ask it.

"Sorry, but that's all I can do for you. I can't give you the means to beat Her." He scooted backwards, supporting the other's head before gently lowering it to the ground. "I think your friends have that covered, though."

Another boy stepped out of the fog behind him, yellow scarf billowing out behind him despite the absence of wind. "Hey, Minato, sorry but you gotta go, now." He glanced down at Souji apologetically.

"It's okay. I've finished what I came here to do." Minato looked back to speak with the brunette, before returning his attention to the still-stationary Souji. "You're protected from Her influence now. So please, beat Her and live happily."

Souji felt like there was so much he should say—wanted to say—but all he could choke out was "Thank you."

Minato offered him one last supporting smile before he turned and started to walk away with the newcomer, who eagerly took Minato's hand in his own. Just when Souji thought this would be the last he'd see of him, he stopped, looking over his shoulder. "Oh. Could I ask one favor? If you ever go to the city you went to for you school trip, could you… Go to the police station and tell Akihiko Sanada… To tell everyone that I'm doing okay?"

He didn't wait for a response before he resumed walking, disappearing into the fog. Souji was left by himself, when suddenly Yosuke's voice cut through the solitude. So this was what Minato meant.

* * *

"I'm surprised." Ryoji slowed down, so he was next to Minato now. "You were pretty talkative."

Minato nodded, and as Ryoji started to wonder if he over-talked himself and that'd be all he was getting out of the other, he finally continued, "he's the type that, if I hadn't talked, there would have been no conversation."

"So, he's like you, then?" He joked, flashing a grin.

"Mm." Minato nodded, his steps becoming slower until they stopped completely, resting his head against the other's shoulder.

Ryoji's grin abruptly disappeared, replaced by concern. "You really wore yourself out, didn't you? You're lucky you're already dead." He sighed, letting go of his hand and wrapping his arm around his bak to help support his weight. "I guess it'll be okay, we'll be back home soon enough. You're going to miss what happens, though."

"Watch it for me 'n tell me what happens." Minato murmured against his arm, eyes fluttering shut.

"Of course." He chuckled softly, hand tracing comforting circles on Minato's back. "You've earned the right to rest as long as you want, Minato."

* * *

Man, this is basically my fanfic crying about how I wished Minato cameo'd at the end of Persona 4. Would have been SO cash.

But alas, no such event happened, so I had been forced to write this instead~

I hope this was halfway decent. There'll be a conclusion of sorts coming soon.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Like one full year later, here's the little conclusion to this fic that's been done for like a year but for some reason I never posted it YEP.

Souji wasn't sure that his entire encounter with the mysterious boy named Minato had even happened, after the fact. There really wasn't any way he could be sure it had. He had been severely beaten up and unconscious—or dead, he really had no idea what that misty world was—so it wouldn't be entirely surprising if it had all been a hallucination.

But he wanted it to be true so badly.

Which was probably why he was here, sitting in a police station utterly foreign to him. He felt unsure whether this would lead anywhere or not, but he wanted to try. Minato had asked only this little favor of him, so he at least wanted to try to fulfill it. Even if he might not exist.

"Seta?"

His head jerked upwards, abruptly woken from his pondering by his name being called. A young man stood in front of him, his suit-jacket thrown over his shoulder and a badge settled comfortably on his belt. Grey eyes regarded the teen coolly, though his mouth was twisted into a friendly smirk. "The receptionist said you needed to talk about something?"

Souji remained outwardly calm, though his heart was beating heavily in his chest. "You're Akihiko Sanada, correct?"

Akihiko hadn't expected the kid to know his name. When the receptionist had told him a teenager wanted to talk to him, he had assumed he was probably freaked out about something he saw. At no point did he think he had come looking specifically for him, so now all his musings were irrelevant. "Yes? What can I help you with?" His voice was a little more guarded this time, though he was far from viewing this grey-haired boy as a threat.

He didn't miss the way his eyes flickered to the side before he spoke, "Can I speak with you privately?"

"Sure thing. It's almost time for my lunch break, so how about we go get some food?" He answered, happy that this could potentially not interfere with his eating habits. Souji merely nodded in response, rising from his seat on the precinct bench.

The kid had said that he needed to talk. He was sure he hadn't misheard that, right? But Akihiko was already halfway done with his hamburger, and he still hadn't said a word. Most people would probably be a little weirded out, but… Akihiko couldn't really say he minded. In some strange way, this teenager reminded him a little of _him_.

Souji was lost in thought, so he missed the way Akihiko's eyes softened and he stopped his devouring for a moment. The fact that Akihiko existed as a police man here of all places meant that his meeting with Minato had actually happened, right? But he couldn't help but feel hesitant.

Because the fact that Minato had appeared to him _then_, and asked him to come here, meant that he was unable to do it himself, and that fact was far beyond foreboding.

That nagging thought kept pressing on his mind, one he had been trying to ignore. The thought that Minato was probably dead. He knew he couldn't let the possible discovery of that fact deter him, though. So, taking one last deep breath to steady himself, he finally broke the silence.

"Minato told me to tell you something."

It was so quiet, so sudden, that Akihiko hardly registered the name. But he had. He set his half-eaten burger down slowly. "Huh?" was all he could say as he stared at the boy, a stunned, uneasy smile on his face. He must have misheard him, right?

"He says he's doing okay, and to tell everyone that." Souji looked away, feeling awkward, like he was intruding on a private moment between Minato and this man.

An uncomfortable silence settled around them for a stretch of time, the two of them in their own little world away from the noise of the burger joint. Souji couldn't bring himself to do anything, not that he'd know what to do even if he could. Finally, after what was starting to seem like an eternity, Akihiko spoke. "You saw him?" His voice trembled mid-sentence, and that was what Souji made him look back.

This confident, bright man now seemed torn between smiling and crying, hands formed in quivering fists either side of his tray. "… Yeah." A small smile spread of Souji's lips, "he seemed… happy. At peace."

Akihiko was leaning forward now, ducking his head in a feeble attempt to hide the fact that he was crying now, a feeble attempt Souji would respect. "I'm so glad." He blurted out, oblivious to the fact his tears were falling onto his hamburger. "_I'm so glad_."

Souji wasn't sure why, but it felt like he wanted him to keep talking. So he obliged. "It might be hard to believe, but he saved me. He saved the world." He could feel the effect just a few minutes in Minato's company had on himself, so he couldn't imagine how attached the people he had known must be to him.

Akihiko laughed at that, regardless of the tears in his eyes. "Sounds about right."

They stayed like that for a while; Akihiko refusing to look up, still crying but occasionally laughing or providing some small comment while Souji told him everything he possibly could about his encounter with him.

When they parted ways, Akihiko felt like a weight pressing on his shoulders for the past two years had been lifted. Souji waved goodbye, a calm yet content expression on his face that was entirely reminiscent of Minato, and Akihiko returned it, despite his red-rimmed eyes and embarrassment.

He skimmed through his contacts—past the new entry of Souji Seta—to call Yukari.

It was about time they all met up again.


End file.
